Heather Law Pezzarossi

Iron Conservation

Students suit up in goggles and gloves when PhD candidate Heather Law Pezzarossi brings rusty old nails to them for practice conservation techniques. These artifacts come from a real archaeological site, giving the students a rare and exciting opportunity to practice iron conservation. They snip, clip, and brush away chunks of rust, and then use tannic acid to preserve the metal.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1114113. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.